Hope floats for ‘neglected’ rest house near Badal resort

Rajmeet Singh

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 30

A “neglected” forest rest house in the vicinity of the Badals’ luxury resort, Sukhvilas, at Palanpur village near here has caught the attention of the Congress government.

Forests and Wildlife Minister Sadhu Singh Dharamsot has sought a report from the top functionaries of the Forest Department on the rest house, which also has provision for a forest sensitisation centre (Van Chetna Kendra).

Dharamsot confirmed that he had asked the officials to explain why the facility had remained non-functional during the past five years.

The rest house fell on bad days when the construction of the resort started in 2012, the year the Akali-BJP government was re-elected. As the road to the rest house passed adjacent to the main premises of the resort, temporary barricading was done to keep passersby away.

Due to the apathy, the place has been overrun by wild growth. The two-storeyed building is in a dilapidated condition. The whitewash on the façade has peeled off. “Officially, no order was passed to shut down the centre, but forest officials were told to stay away,” a senior functionary said.

Back in 2007, during the tenure of the SAD-BJP government, the rest house had hit the headlines when the then Chief Parliamentary Secretary Harish Rai Dhanda was not allowed by the department to use the premises as his residence. The department had stated that Dhanda could visit the rest house with a permit, but not reside there as it was in violation of the Forest Conservation Act, 1980.